Golden Hour (album)
| recorded = January – April 2017 | studio = * Big Green Barn * Sound Emporium * House of Blues * Great Gazoo Reading Room * Royal Plum * (Nashville) | genre = *Country pop *country *pop | length = 45:44 | label = MCA Nashville | producer = * Ian Fitchuk * Daniel Tashian * Kacey Musgraves | prev_title = A Very Kacey Christmas | prev_year = 2016 | next_title = The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show | next_year = 2019 | misc = | single4 = Slow Burn | single4date = October 16, 2018 | single5 = Rainbow | single5date = February 11, 2019 | single6 = Oh, What a World | single6date = May 9, 2019 }} }} Golden Hour is the fourth studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Kacey Musgraves, released on March 30, 2018, through MCA Nashville. Musgraves co-wrote all 13 tracks and co-produced the album with Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk. The album debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Golden Hour received widespread acclaim from critics, winning in all four of its nominated categories at the 61st Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Country Album. The album's first two singles, "Butterflies" and "Space Cowboy", also won awards for Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song, respectively. Golden Hour also won Album of the Year at the 52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards. Recording Musgraves wrote and recorded most of the songs from the album throughout 2017; about the writing process she said: "I have a lot more love songs this time around, and I've never been one to write a love song and really feel it." She continued: "That probably sounds like the most depressing thing ever. But I'm coming off getting married and being in this golden hour of my personal life, where all these things are finally coming to fruition. I found myself inspired to write about this person and all these things he brought out in me that weren’t there before." Some of the album was recorded in a studio above a horse stable owned by musician Sheryl Crow. Promotion and packaging On March 10, 2018, Musgraves announced the Oh, What a World: Tour in support of the album while performing at the Country to Country music festival in London. The first 12 dates of the tour were announced on March 12, with Musgraves stating on social media that tour dates in other countries would eventually be added. The tour began on October 13 in Oslo, Norway. Musgraves announced a second leg of the tour, titled the Oh, What a World: Tour II, in February 2019. Musgraves' sister Kelly Christine Sutton took the cover photo for Golden Hour over a two-day photo shoot in and around their hometown of Golden, Texas. Sutton, who also is credited with designing the album's packaging, has previously worked with Musgraves for all of her albums' artwork. Of the cover photo, Sutton recalls Kacey "wanted to use this paper fan, and we are usually on the same page with ideas, but I couldn’t picture it. We went out into this wide open field. We needed one with no trees, so there was sky only. Almost immediately after we reviewed the photos, we just knew we had it." Critical reception | MC = 89/100 | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = | rev2 = Chicago Tribune | rev2score = | rev3 = Consequence of Sound | rev3score = A− | rev4 = The Guardian | rev4score = | rev5 = The Independent | rev5score = | rev6 = Pitchfork | rev6score = 8.7/10 | rev7 = Rolling Stone | rev7score = | rev8 = The Times | rev8score = | rev9 = Uncut | rev9score = 7/10 | rev10 = Vice (Expert Witness) | rev10score = B+ }} Golden Hour received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 89, based on 17 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four and a half out of five stars and called it "warm and enveloping, pitched halfway between heartbreak and healing—but (it) lingers in the mind because the songs are so sharp, buttressed by long, loping melodies and Musgraves' affectless soul baring." Writing for The Independent and rating the album a perfect 5 out of 5, Roisin O'Connor states the album is "a reminder that sometimes – often, if you're looking in the right places – life is beautiful." Additionally, it was a Spin "Essential" and of the genre-bending songs on the album, reviewer Katherine St. Asaph calls it "not classicist, but perhaps it might be classic." The album was rated number one by the BBC poll of polls, a compilation of 'best of the year lists' across 35 music reviewers, on a list of the best albums of 2018. The album also placed number one in The Village Voice s Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 2018. Accolades Commercial performance Golden Hour debuted at number four on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and at number one on the Top Country Albums chart with 49,000 album-equivalent units—39,000 of that figure being pure album sales in its first week. It marks Musgraves’ third number one on the Top Country Albums chart. It also debuted at number one on the Americana/Folk Albums chart. In the chart week following the 61st Grammy Awards, where Golden Hour won Album of the Year, the album returned to the top-10, climbing to number nine on the chart, selling 35,000 copies. In February 2019, the album has reached 310,000 in equivalent album units and on June 28, 2019, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States. As of October 2019, the album has sold 263,400 copies in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Golden Hour debuted at number six on the official UK Albums chart and at number one on the UK Country Albums chart. It marks Musgraves' first top ten album in the UK. Track listing Credits adapted from liner notes. |length1 = 4:06 |title2 = Lonely Weekend |writer2 = |length2 = 3:46 |title3 = Butterflies |writer3 = |length3 = 3:39 |title4 = Oh, What a World |writer4 = |length4 = 4:01 |title5 = Mother |writer5 = |length5 = 1:18 |title6 = Love Is a Wild Thing |writer6 = |length6 = 4:16 |title7 = Space Cowboy |writer7 = |length7 = 3:36 |title8 = Happy & Sad |writer8 = |length8 = 4:03 |title9 = Velvet Elvis |writer9 = |length9 = 2:34 |title10 = Wonder Woman |writer10 = |length10 = 4:00 |title11 = High Horse |writer11 = |length11 = 3:33 |title12 = Golden Hour |writer12 = |length12 = 3:18 |title13 = Rainbow |writer13 = |length13 = 3:34 }} Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes. Instrumentation *Daniel Tashian – keyboards , bass guitar , background vocals , Fender Stratocaster ), electric guitar , baritone guitar , acoustic guitar , celeste , banjo , electric mandolin , programming , vibraphone , MIDI strings , classical guitar , Elektron sampler , Rhodes *Todd Lombardo – acoustic guitar , electric guitar , banjo , high strung acoustic guitar , baritone guitar , slide guitar , classical guitar *Ian Fitchuk – drums , keyboards , percussion , bass guitar , Roland Juno-60 , piano , programming , vocoder , banjo , background vocals , Wurlitzer , electric guitar , synth bass *David Davidson – violin , viola *Carole Rabinowitz – cello *Kacey Musgraves – lead vocals , acoustic guitar *Russ Pahl – pedal steel guitar *Justin Schipper – pedal steel guitar *Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar *Shawn Everett – "dolphin magic" *Kyle Ryan – electric guitar Technical *Craig Alvin – recording, mixing *Alberto Vaz – recording assistance *Zack Pancoast – recording assistance *Shawn Everett – mixing *Ivan Wayman – mixing assistance *Serban Ghenea – mixing *John Hanes – engineering for mix *Gena Johnson – production coordination *Bobby Shin – strings recording *Jordan Lehning – editing *Greg Calbi – mastering *Steve Fallone – mastering Artwork *Kelly Christine Sutton – art direction, photography, design *Kacey Musgraves – art direction Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications }} / 263,400|salesref=}} Release history References Category:2018 albums Category:Kacey Musgraves albums Category:Grammy Award for Album of the Year Category:Grammy Award for Best Country Album Category:MCA Records albums Category:Country pop albums Category:Pop albums by American artists